Pox Americana, Elizabeth A. Fenn - 1190 Words

In her book, Pox Americana, Elizabeth A. Fenn takes on the challenge of writing about a little-known topic with large gaps in the existing research. Fenn states in the foreword that the previous research about smallpox focused on specific locations, often with vague but tantalizing references to a larger background pandemic. I commend Fenn on her attempt to write about that large epidemic and I think that she successfully combined the facts and figures that spanned an entire hemisphere into her book. My initial thought, when I began reading was to ask why this topic is not more well-known. Fenn does an excellent job of detailing the impact that the smallpox epidemic had on the war and the colonists ability to fight. It is interesting to read about the difficulty that George Washington and other colonial leaders had in containing the disease. Controlling the epidemic brought yet another responsibility to General Washington and made his job even more difficult. I can only speculate, but I believe that one reason why the epidemic is not more widely known is because it ultimately didn t affect the outcome of the war. People like their heroes, so we here about Nathan Hale, George Washington, and many others. Historiography focuses on the big events, the bold decisions, and the major blunders. The smallpox epidemic, while terrible for those who lived and suffered through it, doesn t seem to qualify for any of those categories among historians. I was very impressed withShow MoreRelatedPox Americana Book Review Essay820 Words   |  4 Pagesbook Pox Americana, Elizabeth A. Fenn writes about the encounter with the deadly disease in the 1770s to the 1780s. Her book was first published in 2001 in New York City, where she originally wrote it. Her book contains just under 400 words that explain the disease, some of the first encounters with it, who and where it affected people, and how they got the epidemic under control. Pox Americana is a very informative book that tea ches the reader various things. The tendency of Pox Americana is toRead MoreCauses of American War of Independence4459 Words   |  18 PagesDuffy, Christopher. The Military Experience in the Age of Reason, 1715–1789. New York: Barnes Noble, 1987. ISBN 0689119933. Ellis, Joseph J. His Excellency: George Washington. New York: Knopf, 2004. ISBN 1400040310. Fenn, Elizabeth Anne. Pox Americana: The Great Smallpox Epidemic of 1775–82. New York: Hill and Wang, 2001. ISBN 0809078201. Greene, Jack P. and J.R. Pole, eds. The Blackwell Encyclopedia of the American Revolution. Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell, 1991;